• WORLD

The U.S. Justice Department on Wednesday named former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian interference in the 2016 U.S.

election and possible collusion between President Donald Trumpâ€™s campaign and Moscow.

The move followed a week in which the White House was thrown into an uproar amid rising demands by Democrats and some of Trumpâ€™s fellow Republicans for an independent probe of whether Russia tried to sway the outcome of Novemberâ€™s presidential election in favor ofTrump and against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

In a statement after the Justice Department announcement, Trump said he looked forward to a quick resolution of the matter.

â€œAs I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know â€“ there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity,â€ he said.

Mueller, in a statement tweeted by CBS News said: â€œI accept this responsibility and will discharge it to the best of my ability.â€

Trump has long bristled at the notion that Russia played any role in his November electionvictory, but the Russia issue has clouded his early months in office. Moscow has denied U.S. intelligence agenciesâ€™ conclusion it meddled in the campaign.

But pressure on the White House intensified after Trumpâ€™s firing last week of Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey, who had been leading a federal probe into the matter, and allegations that Trump had asked Comey to end the FBI investigation.

The issue spilled over onto Wall Street on Wednesday where the S&P 500 and the Dow hadtheir biggest one-day declines since September as investor hopes for tax cuts and other pro-business policies faded amid the political tumult.

â€œMy decision (to appoint a special counsel) is not the finding that crimes have been committed or that any prosecution is warranted. I have made no such determination,â€ Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said in a statement announcing the special counsel.

â€œI determined that a special counsel is necessary in order for the American people to have full confidence in the outcome,â€ he said.